long distance buying advice?
 

Looking at used Boxster S. It's at Porsche dealer in Eastern PA but it is too far away to drive to inspect in person.

What do people typically do? buy a 1 way ticket to do the in person inspection and pickup? I did that on my last car but it was a private sale and the guy offered to buy my return ticket if I was not satisfied.

Anyone made the trip and then decide not to buy? did the dealer offer to pay for the return trip?

My main concern is that as I've been driving local cars there is a big difference on cars with the same mileage on how free the engine feels and high tight the body & top still feel. Some cars are just drum tight (no rattles, squeaks or quivers) and on some car the engines just feel muffled/slow like they were never broken in correctly, so even if this car looks good on paper, pictures, and service history it might still be a no go for one of those reasons.

Any other long distance buying advice?

Jeremy

Is this car Cert Pre-Owned (CPO)? Since it's at a Porsche dealership, they have the ability to certify it. They put it through an inspection and if they deem it's very good, they can certify it. It adds about $2K to the price but you get 2yr warranty that isn't bumper to bumper but covers the parts we Boxster owners worry about (RMS). If this car is CPO'd, you shouldn't have to worry as much about the long distance purchase. I bought my first Box in Dallas (700+ miles from Omaha) that was CPO'd and had no surprises when I got there.

Good luck.

The have done the certified inspection but don't want to actually certify it because they'd have to replace all the tires to one of the 4 Porsche approved ones.

I would not buy a car sight unseen. Not even a new one. Travel costs to inspect the car are just part of the purchase price.

If you decide to do the deal, tell them you will not buy it unless it is CPO'd. There are many-many Porsches for sale, just look at sites like autotrader.com. Buyers with cash, in today's economy, who want "luxury" items like a sports car, are in the drivers seat to negotiate a great entry price in the transaction.

I've been thinking about this and it seems curious to me. My 01S had tires that only had 2K left on them. I could see where tires would elevate the appeal of a car, but they're not a CPO warranty item so why would that be a reason to not approve the CPO? Also, why would they go through the entire inspection when they could immediately see the tires wouldn't pass? Are they hiding something else?

I would negotiate with them. Say you'll pay $1500 for the CPO w/o the new tires. That should give them a few $$$ profit on the CPO and give you some room to buy new tires - which you'll have to do if they don't CPO and you buy it. Since you're going to be not using this dealership for service, it's not like you'll be coming back to them for the warranty work if they CPO it (dealers get a lower $$$ rate / hr for warranty work than regular work).

If they don't want to dance, I'd look elsewhere. Bmuss is right, there are plenty of other options available. Here's a link to Porsche dealers nationwide. You can even look for CPO cars.

http://www.porschedealer.com/dealer/cgi-bin/locator_us_CI.cgi

Since I'm a first time porsche owner of less than a week this info applies to other experiences I've had with high-line lux or sports cars.

I've traveled thousands of miles looking at cars before, and I've had good and bad experiences. Every dealer is completely different, but what remains the same is that every dealer wants to see you in person.

I once drove almost 6 hours into CT from NJ to look at a very low mile S4 that was said to be in "new" condition. When I got there the car looked like it had been dumped in a river, there were knife gashes in the headliner, and the engine was all messed up. Needless to say I left very angry and didn't buy.

Other times have been very different and its the gamble you take when traveling for a car. Try searching around on the internet to see if others have ever had an issue with this dealer, and ask if you can have it in writing that they will buy you a return ticket if you don't purchase the car. If they are confident enough in their car to make that claim in writing, its probably worth looking at.